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Tudung Alien

A friend recently tweet-ed about Yuna new hijab style. Her tweet which I prefer not to quote sounded so intriguing that I ended up searching for Yuna's 'new' look. not that I'm a fan of her... I don't even have any of her songs in my playlist...anyway, upon 'stalking' through her fb fan page, I stumbled on a photo in which she (Yuna) was tagged on. It's Audrey Hepburn photo in a nun's outfit. something like below, (I couldn't find a similar photo)


The caption following the photos talks about how most modern hijjab styles are similar to the Jewish and Christian women. It gives out hadiths regarding the forbidden of mimicking them. 

Dear readers, how do you feel about this?

As for me, I felt a tad sad when I saw that then became quite furious for the 'act'. I rather not use 'ignorance'. Not that I'm one of those hijjab fashionistas... me, still trapped in kampung-square-brooch-ed hijjab. Even wearing selendang always tak jadi one.

The reasons are beyond my interest in fashion or hijjab styles. 

First of all, as my little knowledge is concerned, he half-quoted the hadith. "He does not belong to us who imitates other people, do not imitate the Jews or the Christians" Tirmidhi. I've heard the hadith before and believe it's actually about the manner of giving salam. I went about googling for the full hadith as I wasn't quite convinced with my memory. I found it in Muttaqun Online and it is indeed under the chapter of Greeting and the full hadith goes; Allah's Messenger said, "He does not belong to us who imitates other people. Do not imitate the Jews or the Christians, for the Jews' salutation is to make a gesture with the fingers and the Christians' salutation is to make a gesture with the palms of the hands." It's even stated below the narration is weak. I admit my incompetency to further discuss the science if this hadith. so I should leave it as that and proceed to my other reasons.

I'm aware that Islam has given us quite a strict guideline in appearance, for both, men and women. Some are quite specific, but most are very general. Like how men must not shave their beards and women must cover up. However, Islam isn't just full of constrains. I believe, it is permissible to be fashionable as long as it does not go against the guidelines.

The problem with many of the hijjab styles is, it's not doing what a hijjab should be doing. It's not covering what it should be covering. NOT that it's similar to a nun's outfit. If you look at some of the orthodox women in the area where Aramaic religion begins... you can hardly distinguish a Muslim and Christian women. I once had a Muslim friend from Iran whose her traditional hijjab style looks exactly like in the picture above. In case some of you can't imagine how can a Muslim woman possibly look similar to the Christian's... you might want to try watching this movie. It'll give a little idea how the nun's outfit originated. 



The nun's outfit is a reflection of chastity, modesty and the best of their women, and believe me... it's one of the strongest argument we (Muslim women who live in the midst of Christian society) have. 

Islam indeed ordered us to differentiate ourselves from the Christians and Jewish. However, as a Muslim women living in a country like Australia... I would say, having a piece of fabric 'properly wrapped' around your head, regardless fashion has already made the 'statement'.

True that muslima fashion requires a lot of reviewing. The evolution of hijjab trends is quite scary sometimes. At one time, everybody wanted to look like Wardina, Waheeda, then Hana Tajima, the next day... every girl is turning into a long headed alien with all sort of bling bling all over their head. The bright side is I have less reason to disgust people who wears shades inside shopping malls.

I guess my whole point here is, a style, hijjab or any sort of clothing goes back to its appropriateness. As formal as a baju kurung is back in Malaysia, when you wear it here... people think you're going to a 'party'. Also, comparing a style to nun's outfit is quite frivolous. 

Jubah, serban, tudung lubuh pun boleh jadi 'libasu shuhra' (pakaian utk bermegah2) kalau tak kena konteks, right?.

Some people find it easy to control what they wear and vice versa. I'm not perfect by any means, and still struggling to correct myself. May Allah make it easy for me and you.

Comments

nn said…
sangat setuju dengan dengan pendapat u pasal benda ni. kalau berlegar kat tumblr siap ada one photo tunjuk women of every religion covering their hair/head and memang tak beza pun apa agama diorang. cuma ada persamaan, they're modestly covering theirselves.

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